Monday, February 6, 2017

Plymouth Submarines To Move To Scotland By 2020

Gayle_Herald, The Herald
3 February 2017

All Plymouth-based submarines will be relocated to Scotland by 2020, the defence secretary has confirmed.
Over the next three years all 11 of the Navy's submarines will be moved to HM Naval Base Clyde, also known as Faslane.
Initially, the move was scheduled to take place this year but was pushed back due to various delays.
The Ministry of Defence has pumped £1.3 billion of investment into making the Clyde "Britain's submarine hub".
The number of people employed at the base will rise from 6,800 to 8,200.
Yesterday, defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon announced that a £4million submarine school will be built at the base.
Once complete, the school will provide academic and technical training for all Royal Naval personnel entering the submarine service from 2022, which means submariners will no longer attend HMS Raleigh in Torpoint.
Sir Fallon said moving Britain's submarine fleet to Scotland would provide stability for submariners.
"We are now making a long-term investment of hundreds of millions of pounds to improve and upgrade the waterfront at Clyde to make sure it is ready to support the United Kingdom's whole submarine fleet," he said.
The new school will support the Astute hunter killer submarines, as well as the delivery of training for the new Dreadnought nuclear deterrent boats, which will provide the UK with its continuous nuclear deterrent.
Head of the Submarine Service, Rear Admiral John Weale, said: "Our new single integrated operating base will make significant improvements to the work-life balance of our 5,000 submariners.
"By putting our boats and training in one place, our submariners can put down roots in Scotland knowing that they are no longer required to commute from one end of the country to another."
The last four Astute class submarines, which will eventually replace the Trafalgar class, are due to be commissioned into the Royal Navy between 2018 and 2024.
The last two Trafalgar class submarines, HM Submarines Talent and Triumph, which are based in Plymouth, are due to move to the Clyde in 2019 and 2020.
According to current plans, the end of service date for Talent is 2021, with Triumph's currently set at 2022.
The move of the Submarine Escape Rescue Abandonment and Survivability Training capability from Hampshire to Clyde is due to happen in 2019 and a new Nuclear Support Hub, which will provide modern standard effluent disposal, is due to be complete by 2020.
The four Dreadnought nuclear deterrent submarines will start to arrive at Faslane from the early 2030s. They will replace the Vanguard-class boats.
All 11 Royal Navy submarines will be based at HMNB Clyde from 2020, seeing the number of people employed at the base will rise from 6,800 people to 8,200.
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My blog concentrates on submarine history and modern strategy. I plan to sprinkle in commentary on anything of interest. My publisher is the U.S. Naval Institute Press. Information about my books is available at USNI.com. I also have an interest in Bucks County, Pa. history and write a weekly column for the Bucks County Courier Times and The Intelligencer. My new book on the subject is "Bucks County Adventures" available through Amazon.com.